Bureaucratic influence and administrative styles in international organizations

Abstract

While a consensus seems to be emerging that bureaucracies of international organizations are of growing relevance for policy-making beyond the nation-state, we still do not systematically understand if and how exactly international bureaucracies seek to influence policy. Most importantly, there is a lack of concepts for a comparative assessment of bureaucratic influence across different International Organizations. This article addresses this shortcoming by offering a conceptualization of administrative styles. Depending on dominant strategic orientations shaping administrative routines, we identify four ideal types: a servant style, an advocacy style, a consolidator style, and an entrepreneurial style. We argue that the variation in administrative styles across different organizations can be explained by two factors, namely the internal and external challenges they face. The concept and theoretical explanation are illustrated in four case studies on the bureaucracies of the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Labor Organization.